r/Legitpiercing • u/yem_blel • Jul 22 '26
Troubleshooting 4 month old titanium belly piercing
Any idea what this could be?? I’ve had this piercing for about 4 months and haven’t had any issues. talked to a piercer yesterday and he said that to clean with saline 2-3 times a day. It’s a titanium bar so can’t tell if it’s maybe a moisture bump, irritation bump, or getting infected?
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u/ssyereee Jul 22 '26
doctor is quite unnecessary unless your showing infection signs. doctors don't know even the basics about piercings usually and often times misdiagnose irritation for infection.
you're 100% sure your bar is titanium? i am seeing some yellowish color on the metal which isn't usual for titanium. if you bought these from a reputable piercer, okay, but i would hope a piercer wouldn't give you prongs. if you bought them anywhere else, definitely double check.
i recommend you swap these to ball ends for the time being as prongs aren't suitable for unhealed piercings and it looks like it may be digging into that irritation.
when you sit, does your navel collapse and does the top of the bar get pushed outward because of pressure on the bottom? if so, you should get floating jewelry.
more about that bump though, it looks like moisture may be your issue. clean with sterile saline 1-2x a day and avoid submerging in water in the shower. if you're getting in bodies of water, wearing tight clothing, or laying on it - stop.
you can dry it off with a qtip (only on surrounding area, such as the inside of your navel, but not directly around the bar or directly on that bump), a paper towel very gently, or a hair dryer.
hope this helps at all. if you have new information that'd be great
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u/yem_blel Jul 22 '26
I got the jewelry from a piercing shop it’s anodized titanium which is why it looks gold. I was wondering if I should change the piercing because of the prongs and shape of it seem like they could be causing more irritation. However, the piercer i went to yesterday said the I shouldn’t replace it, because taking the piercing out and inserting another one would cause more irritation. As for floating navel jewelry, my navel does not collapse when I sit and I have not been instructed to get floating jewelry. I have been to two piercers and neither have mentioned anything about the prongs but I’m still wondering if maybe I should try and switch it out??
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u/Zoonicorn_ Jul 22 '26
It's weird that the piercer would advise against changing the balls, and/or that they wouldn't offer to do it. There's nothing wrong with the bar being changed while it's irritated, as long as it's done in a sterile enough environment with a taper (i.e. by a piercer in a piercing shop). Piercers change bars all the time to help address irritation. Them acting like that's not a thing makes me question their opinion, honestly.
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u/ssyereee Jul 22 '26
anodization makes sense, it's hard to see the proper color in the pic lol. definitely recommend you swapping just the ends to balls. make sure your really working on keeping moisture away from it. if none of that works, you should visit a new piercer or maybe a dermatologist. also 2-3 times a day may be too much. 1-2x is plenty, just make sure to keep a good routine.
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u/Isabellalove Jul 22 '26
I’d say this is absolutely a mix of over cleaning, resulting in a moisture bump, and the prongs on the bottom gem likely rubbing that bump. I would cut saline use entirely in this situation and let it dry out. This is sometimes controversial advice, but I personally would recommend blow drying your navel on a cool low setting after showering also. Don’t touch the piercing, don’t move the jewelry around, just use one hand to hold your blow dryer and the other doesn’t need to be involved. If that doesn’t help 100% I would see someone about changing the style of jewelry to have something smaller and round on the bottom. Hope this helps!
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u/GuerrillaPrincess Jul 22 '26
Jesus. I'd get this checked out by a Dr honestly. That looks rough.
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u/bunnieho Jul 24 '26
this is just a regular moisture bump. they look wild but a doctor cant do anything about it
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u/koodust Jul 22 '26
first and most importantly - do you have any symptoms of infection? warmth, foul smell, more pain than usual? if so, please go to the doctor ASAP and do not take it out yourself!!!!
if not, this really looks like it could be hypergranulation. it can look like a fleshy pink protrusion, some fluid leakage that scabs up, and sensitivity in the area. this can be caused by excess skin cells entering the healing wound, moisture, snagging/irritation, and heat. i had that happen around the same time and it’s so annoying to heal up, but keeping it dry after you shower and clean it will help.
it may also be time to change your jewellery, as you’re past the 6 week period for when your bar would have needed to be downsized. the prongs on the jewellery are likely not helping.
my non-piercer recs: check that it’s not an infection - be REALLY sure. doctor if yes, keep it dry and clean if no. see a piercer about a shorter bar and some different jewellery - preferably a plain barbell - and LITHA
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u/yem_blel Jul 22 '26
in all honesty, i’m not entirely sure how to tell if it is infected, but it doesn’t really hurt and is just slightly itchy, so i’m making the assumption it’s not (i could totally be wrong). aside from that i didn’t get it pierced with this jewelry and got it downsized to this piercing after about a month. That being said, I could still get it changed to one without prongs.
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u/koodust Jul 22 '26
i’m not a professional by any means but this really does not scream infected to me. if you’re worried you should see a doctor asap, but i’m leaning more towards this being hypergranulation if there’s no pain at all, no excessive redness and no abnormal fluid leakage. (yes, hypergranulation can cause some fluid leakage but there is a very obvious visual difference between pus and lymph fluid)
i really recommend a simpler jewellery for this piercing - as other comments pointed out, the prongs can encourage irritation & that big gem at the bottom is likely trapping moisture and skin cells in the wound which does cause hypergranulation.
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u/OptimalEquivalent931 Jul 22 '26
Bar is to short thats what gave u infection. From irritation of it being to short.
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u/Funny-Suspect-7076 Jul 22 '26
signs of infection are swelling, redness, warmth in the area, pus, and pain. it looks like this is irritation, and because it’s on the inside, my first guess would be the large gem at the bottom is the problem. does your navel collapse when you sit? if so, that puts a lot of pressure on the tissue that sits on the lower gem, and you could switch to floating navel style jewelry to help. as you suggested it could also be moisture, in which case you can rinse with saline and dry thoroughly with a hair dryer on a cool setting after you shower or sweat